Arizona Coyotes Playing At Veteran’s Coliseum Possibility

With the Arizona Coyotes looking for a temporary playing site, the Coliseum has been mentioned as a possibility.

History…

I must be frank with you… the Arizona Veteran’s Memorial Coliseum holds some special memories for me. When I moved to the Valley in 1974, it was where the Phoenix Suns called home, and was nicknamed the “Madhouse on McDowell.” And for good reason. The Suns were a very competitive team then, and they filled the coliseum, and rocked the building on many occasions.

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But, I was a hockey fan, and moving from Chicago saw me searching for some hockey to follow. I latched on to the Phoenix Roadrunners, who were members of the Western Hockey League, and began play in the World Hockey Association in 1974. During that time, under the skillful coaching of Sandy Hucul, they managed to make the playoffs twice in 1974-75, and again the next season 1975-76.

This team had one dynamic 5’ 10”, 155 pound C/LW by the name of Robbie Ftorek. He was nicknamed the “Flea”, since he intimidated opposing forwards with his constant pesty fore-checking. In 213 games, he had 298 points, so his offense wasn’t bad either.

I remember going to those games, and back then fighting was a huge facet of the game. I swear there were times games went three to four hours long due to all the fights breaking out. Then, to add to it the scoring was over the top back then. The ’74-’75 team averaged 3.85 goals scored, and 3.40 goals against a game. There were scores like 12-2, 10-4, and defense was not given much attention.

I tell you all this to give the folks who did not live here back then some history. This building has history, but that also makes it close to ancient. The transition from a modern facility like Gila River arena would be more than earth shattering. The Coliseum was built in 1965. To imagine that IceArizona would even think of renovating such an old facility to meet NHL standards, it would need to be a last choice decision.

Upside…

On the upside is that they would be the primary tenant, whereas if they went to the Suns, Talking Stick arena, they would be the secondary tenant. They would also have concession and parking revenue rights. It would additionally give the IceArizona management a glimpse at how well the team would draw in a more central location.

Downside…

On the downside, the building has a capacity of only 12,500. The Arizona Coyotes are averaging 13,278 this season, so you don’t want to lock out potential customers. There are no luxury suites (in fact there is nothing luxurious about the place to be brutally honest). There is nothing but industrial businesses around the area, and nothing to attract a hockey fan much like Westgate has to offer the fans now. The cost to renovate the classic building would seem to be too expensive for a short term home.

The Coyotes have met on at least two occasions, with officials from Arizona Veteran’s Memorial Coliseum about possibly playing there on a temporary basis after their arena lease and management agreement with the City of Glendale expires in 2017. This according to Jen Yee, the assistant executive director of the Arizona Exposition and State Fair (which includes the Coliseum). Yee confirmed this on Wednesday, December 9th.

The talks are very preliminary at this point, but those who attended the meetings were team executives including Coyotes CEO and president Anthony LeBlanc, outside consultants, including recently hired arena consultant Mitchel Ziets, and Coyotes construction partners. Yee said the party toured the coliseum on both occasions.

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Coliseum? Nah…

When you evaluate the possibilities, the Coliseum is a long shot, at best. Right now it looks like the logical selection would be Talking Stick arena, and sharing it with the Suns until a new arena can be built they both can call home.

It’s just unfortunate that if a new building is built, it must be shared with the Suns, who will get priority on suites revenue, parking and concessions. That could be worked out between the two teams, especially if the Suns want the Coyotes to be there.